Club career

Early career

De la Cruz's first team was the Ecuadorian side Sociedad Deportivo Quito, for whom he started playing at the age of 16 in the junior division and later the professional division. Nonetheless, De la Cruz's breakthrough season was with LDU Quito in 1998. He scored three goals in the final against Emelec (7–0).

Aston Villa

In De la Cruz's first season at the club, he played 24 times, scoring one league goal, against Charlton Athletic. He featured more in the 2003-04 season after David O'Leary took over, and an injury to Mark Delaney ensured that de la Cruz could start more games than he had...Read More